Late on Friday, the Office of Government Ethics sent a little-noticed memo to the White House, with the subject, Data Call for Certain Waivers and Authorizations. It could have been titled: You Said Youd Clean Up Government. Now Prove It.

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On the campaign trail and in office, President Trump proclaimed his determination to keep his administration free of lobbyists, foreign agents and special interests, who have reaped the rewards of government while the people have borne the cost, as he said in his inaugural address.

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A week later, Mr. Trump signed an executive order requiring executive branch employees to obey a list of rules designed to prevent conflicts of interest. But the order is rendered practically worthless by a clause allowing waivers to ethical rules for any White House staff, without any written explanation or public disclosure. Thats why the ethics office, which ensures that public servants enter government free from potential conflicts of interest, is demanding that the White House provide the names of executive branch officials who have received waivers, on what issues, by June 1.

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Now, in the absence of any action from Congress, the government ethics office is on its own with a White House that openly flouts ethical norms. Top-tier government and regulatory positions have gone to friends of Wall Street, Big Oil, Big Coal, Big Pharma and for-profit education. Ivanka Trump, a White House senior adviser, reaps trademarks and promotional opportunities from China and Germany. Jared Kushner, Ms. Trumps spouse, is a United States envoy to countries where his family has business ties. But why should anyone in the White House bother to separate business and government service when the president himself promotes everything from his Washington hotel to his private Mar-a-Lago beach club.